Voters challenge North Carolina restrictions on voting by mail News
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Voters challenge North Carolina restrictions on voting by mail

A group of voters filed a lawsuit Monday challenging several North Carolina mail-in ballot voting requirements.

This lawsuit comes from concerns about voting due to the COVID-19 public health crisis. In their complaint, the plaintiffs challenge several North Carolina mail-in ballot voting requirements in an effort to ensure that everybody in North Carolina may be able to exercise their right to vote. In particular, the plaintiffs challenge four provisions.

The first provision that the plaintiffs are challenging is the requirement for citizens to bear the costs of postage for both ballot applications and absentee ballots. The second provision the plaintiffs are challenging is “the enforcement of the current absentee ballot receipt deadline,” which the plaintiffs allege is not sustainable. The third provision challenged by the plaintiffs is “the requirement that all absentee ballot envelopes be signed by a notary or two witnesses” because North Carolinians are supposed to be practicing social distancing and staying at home. Finally, the plaintiffs are also challenging a signature matching practice that takes place in some counties. In this signature matching practice, if a signature on an absentee ballot does not appear to match the signature in the election authorities’ files, that ballot can be rejected.

In filing this suit, the plaintiffs seek to declare that these provisions are unconstitutional and therefore invalid.

For more on COVID-19, see our special coverage.

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